Sociology Exam 1

Sociology

Systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior

Social sciences

Disciplines that use the scientific method to examine the social world

Sociological perspective

Way of looking at the world through a sociological lens

Approaches for developing a sociological perspective

• Beginner's mind

• Culture shock

• Sociological imagination

Beginner's mind

Approaching the world without preconceptions in order to see things in a new way

Expert's mind

Mind so filled with facts, projections, assumptions, opinions, and explanations that it can't learn anything new

Culture shock

Sense of disorientation that occurs when entering a radically new social or cultural environment

Sociological imagination

Quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our individual circumstances and larger social forces

Trouble

A private matter, values cherished by an individual are felt to be threatened

Issue

A public matter, some value cherished by the public is felt to be threatened

First contributer to sociology

Ibn Khaldun

As sabiyah

Social cohesion

Ibn Khaldun

Argued that larger social and historical forces shape individuals' lives

Ilm alumran

Science of civilization

Auguste Comte

• Argued that societies contain forces

• Promoted positivism

• Credited with coining the term sociology

Social statics

Forces for stability and cooperation

Social dynamics

Forces for conflict and change

Positivism

Theory that sense perceptions are the only valid source of knowledge or that accurate knowledge comes through the scientific method

Harriet Martineau

Endorsed labor unions, the abolition of slavery, and women's suffrage

Herbert Spencer

• Promoted Social Darwinism

• Didn't believe government should intervene in society to address inequalities

• Played a major role in establishing sociology in Britain and America

Social Darwinism

Application of the theory of evolution and the notion of survival of the fittest to the study of society

Emile Durkheim

Viewed sociology as a field of study that explores social facts

Mechanical solidarity

Social bonds present in premodern agrarian societies in which shared traditions and beliefs created a sense of social cohesion

Organic solidarity

Social bonds present in modern societies based on difference interdependence and individual rights

Anomie

Sense of disconnection brought about by changing conditions of modern life

Class consciousness

Recognition of social inequality on the part of the oppressed leading to revolutionary action

Max Weber

• Concerned with the process of rationalization

• Proposed that modern societies were characterized by efficient goal-oriented rule-governed bureaucracies

• Theorized that Protestantism helped promote the development of capitalism in some european nations

Rationalization

Application of economic logic to human activity, the use of formal rules and regulations in order to maximize efficiency without consideration of subjective or individual concerns

Bureaucracies

Secondary groups designed to perform tasks efficiently

Georg Simmel

• Studied how the size of a group impacts interactions

• Proposed the tragedy of culture theory which is based on the distinction between objective and individual culture

Objective culture

The elements that people produce

Individual culture

The capacity of the individual to produce understand and control of the elements of objective culture

Tragedy of culture theory

States that over time o`bjective culture grows exponentally while individual culture grows only slightly

Ida B. Wells-Barnett

• Launched a global anti-lynching campign

• Founding member of the NAACP

George Herbert Mead

• Curious about how the mind developed but emphasized the imact of one's social environment

• Produced influential work on socialization

• Proposed that both human development and the meanings we assign to everyday objects and events that fundamentally social process

Socialization

Process of learning and internalizing the values beliefs and norms of our social group by which we become functioning members of society

W. E. B. Du Bois

• Pioneer in the study of race relations

• Examined the color line

• Firm believer in the utility of scientific research to address social problems

• Founding member of the NAACP

Color line

Seperation of Black society and White society into different and unequal worlds

Jane Addams

• One of the first proponents of applied sociology

• Established the Hull House

Hull house

Offered shelter medical care legal advice training and education to new immigrants single mothers and people of lower social class

Antonio Gramsci

• A social therorist and politician

• Discussed hegemony

• Influenced how later sociologist understood power

Hegemony

Cultural aspects of social control whereby the ideas of the dominant group are accepted by all

Robert Merton

• Continued to develop structural functionalism

• Claimed that some parts of society could have unintended functions

• Stated that some patterns in society could be functional for certain groups yet dysfunctional for other groups

Erving Goffman

• Claimed that the self is created through interactions with others and hence ever-changing within various social contexts

• Developed dramaturgy

• Claimed humans undergo impression management

Dramaturgy

• An approach in which social life is analyzed in terms of similarities to theatrical performances

• Claimed humans undergo impression management

Patricia Hill Collins

• Stated that the experiences of oppressed groups provided valuable sociological insight

• Promoted intersectionality

Intersectionality

Concept that identifies how different categories of inequality intersect to shape the lives of individuals

Three major theoretical perspectives

• Structural functionalism

• Conflict theory

• Symbolic interactionism

Structural Functionalism

• Views society as a stable ordered system made up of interrelated parts or structures

• Each structure has a function that contributes to the continued stability or equilibrium of the unified whole

Social institutions

• Family

• Education system

• Economy

• Religion

Dysfunction

Disturbance or undesirable consequence of some aspect of the system

Manifest functions

Obvious intended functions of a social structure or the social system

Latent functions

Less obvious perhaps unintended functions of a social structure

Conflict theory

• Sees society as a system of inequalities

• People are involved in struggles for both resources and power

• Structure perpetuates inequality

• Those in disadvantaged positions should challenge the current systems

Symbolic interactionism

• Sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but created through interaction

• Micro level interactions between individuals are the primary focus

• Symbols contribute to and are created through interactions

Deductive approach

Researcher formulates a hypothesis first and then gathers data

Inductive approach

Researcher gathers data first then formulates a theory to fit the data

Ethnography

Naturalistic method based on studying in their own environment in order to understand the meanings they attribute to their activities

Advantages of ethnographies

• Tells richly detailed stories

• Challenge previous notions about groups

• May provide policy implications

Disadvantages of ethnographies

• Often suffers from lack of replicability

• May lack representativeness

• Researchers have personal bias

• Researchers may run into ethical dilemmas

Advantages of interviews

• Allows researchers to speak their own words

• Helps the researcher discover new issues

Disadvantages of interviews

• Respondents are not always truthful

• May lack representativesness

Advantages of focus groups

• Can be a means to increase the sample size

• Allow participants to discuss ideas

Disadvantages of focus groups

• May be difficult to direct and manage

Advantages of surveys

• Allows for high sample sizes

• Quick and economical

• Strong reliability

• Will not suffer from interviewer bias

Disadvantages of surveys

• Don't allow respondents to provide a full range of expression

• Limitations because of sampling process

• Research can be used to make a misleading claim

Content analysis

Method in which researchers identify and study specific variables or themes that appear in media

Advantages of existing sources

• Allows researchers to work with data they could not obtain on their own

• Allows researchers to learn about different time periods

• Allows researchers to use the same data to replicate studies

Disadvantages of existing sources

• Do not allow researchers to understain the original authors intentions

• Do not tell us what effects these sources have on society

Advantages of experiments

• Allows researchers to control the social environment

• Allows researchers to use the same data to replicate studies

Disadvantages of experiments

• Take place in artificer environments

• Are not effective in describing more complex processes and interactions

Basic research

Search for knowledge without any agenda or practical goal in mind

Applied research

Gathering knowledge that can be used to create social change

Reactivity

Tendency of people and events to react to the process of being studied

Hawthore effect

Specific example of reactivity in which the desired effect is the result not the independent variable but of the research itself

Milgram experiment

Tested the lengths which ordinary people would follow orders from a legitimate authority figure

Stanford prison experiment

Students were placed in a mock prison to study examined power and authority

Mill's central argument

Individual lives and experiences can only be fully understood in connection with broader social structures

False consciousness

Incomplete understanding of one's social position and the forces shaping one's life

Hull House

Offered shelter medical care legal advice training and education to new immigrants single mothers and people who are poor

Impression management

Effort to control the impressions we make on others so that they form a desired view of us and the situation

Ethnocentrism

Using ones own culture as a means or standard by which to evaluate others leading to the view that cultures other than ones own are abnormal or inferior

Cultural relativism

Principle of understanding other cultures on their own terms rather than judging or evaluating according to ones own culture

Material culture

Physical objects associated with a cultural group that are given social meaning

Nonmaterial culture

Ideas associated with a cultural group including ways of thinking and ways of behaving

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Idea that language structures thought and that ways of looking at the world are embedded in language

Norms

Rules or guidelines regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable

Folkway

Loosely enforced norm that ensures smooth social interaction

Mores

Norms that carry great significance

Taboo

Norm is ingrained so deeply that even thinking about violating it evokes disgust

Sanctions

Positive or negative reactions to the ways that people follow or disobey norms

Types of sanctions

• Positive

• Negative

• Formal

• Informal

Multiculturalism 

Policy that values diverse backgrounds that encourages retention of cultural differences

Structural functionalism view on culture

• Values and norms are generally agreed upon

• Culture exists to serve a purpose

Conflict theorys view on culture

• Values and norms are part of the dominant culture

• Counterculture is encouraged

Symbolic interactionalisms view on culture

• Focus on how values and norms operate on the micro level

• Interested in how symbols are created and what their meanings are